IUPD sees bike incidents

IU employee Laura Makarchuk had a close call with a cyclist on the morning of Sept. 7.

She was sitting in a line of morning rush hour traffic at the four-way stop sign at the intersection of Seventh Street and Jordan Avenue. 

As she lifted her foot off of her break to inch forward in traffic, a cyclist darted in front of her.

“I was shocked. I couldn’t believe he did that,” Makarchuk said. “Afterward, I felt really shook up.”

Close calls, or even crashes, between cars and cyclists aren’t a rare occurrence on campus.

IU Police Chief Keith Cash said the vast majority of calls involving bicyclists since 2007 have been bicyclists striking vehicles.

There are no specific bicycle crash hot spots on campus, Cash said, but there are various types of bicycle accidents IUPD respond to.

“We have responded to everything ranging from car versus bicycle, pedestrian versus bicycle, bicycle versus bicycle, deer versus bicycle and bicyclists simply falling off their bikes,” Cash said in an email.

Cash said these crashes usually result in minor injuries to the cyclists.

Senior Helen Han rides her bike to class about every other day.

She said campus and the city of Bloomington each have their own pitfalls: Campus can be crowded, and the city has road construction.

On campus, times between classes and rush hour at busy locations such at Tenth and Third streets are the most dangerous, Han said.

“Some cyclists try to go through the cars, which can be dangerous for both the cyclists and the cars,” Han said.

Han said she’s seen cyclists doing other unsafe things: riding on sidewalks and riding the wrong direction on one-way streets.

Makarchuk said she’s willing to share the road with cyclists, but wants them to follow the rules.

“It’s not the close calls as far as I’m concerned, but it’s very risky behavior,” Makarchuk said.